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funny (if not necessarily "passive-aggressive") notes from pissed-off people

The bark heard ‘cross the country

So, our anonymous submitter had lived at her house in Austin, Texas for about two months when she went out of town for the weekend. For the two days while she was gone, she left her dog outside in the yard. Three weeks later, her landlord — who lives at a completely different address — received this note via U.S. mail…postmarked Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Thank you!!! Who leaves their pet unattended for days? Someone who doesn’t care about their pet, that’s who.

There are kennels available when you go away for a day or two i fyou have no friends. OR with the economy the way it is, I am pretty sure you could find someone to cheaply watch the dog you don’t care about.

I would have called the SPCA, or local animal shelter, or whatever it is you have in Austin, Texas. Leaving your dog alone in a yard for 2 days?? Not ok. If you don’t plan on taking care of the animal, don’t get it in the first place.

She didn’t actually say she left the dog unattended the entire 2 days, just that it was outside. She could very well have had a friend checking in on him. As long she prepared properly (ie, if it was going to be a very hot weekend have lots of water and shade available to the dog, if rainy have shelter, etc.) the dog would be perfectly fine. Nothing in the story gives us reason to believe anything happened other than the dog barked (and if only one person complained, I’m guessing it didn’t really bark that much).

It’s NOT ok. All kinds of things could happen to it outside…. Storms/lightening? Bee sting? Cut on pad? Serious injury due to jumping the fence or scratching the door…. neighbors so annoyed they POISON the dog (yup, happens even in nice neighborhoods). It is highly irresponsible. It is not ok. It’s almost like leaving a two year old alone for 2 days. A loud, crying, two year old.

Look, I’m a dog lover too, my family has kept dogs my entire life. Leaving a dog for 2 days is not like leaving a 2-year-old alone. Dogs, even puppies do not need the constant attention of a human baby.

And we’ve done much worse than 2 days. Our dogs have always lived outside, they never came in the house. Living outside in a pen (Gasp!) let them get the exercise they needed during the day without us having to worry they would wonder away and get hit by a car or just never come back (FYI they were Beagels, rabbit hounds for those who don’t know which means they are ment to RUN, leaving them in the house and taking them for a walk once, even twice a day when someone was home would not have cut it for exercise). We also had 2 dog houses in the pen, on little crappy on with plywood nailed together and one that a carpenter friend of my parents made with siding, roofing, window, etc. The dogs slept in the crappy plywood one because the other one was too hot, even in the -10 deg C weather.

My socialist cousin tried to convince my Dad that we were horrible people that practiced “specism” for keeping the dogs outside. My family loved those dogs, and the outside didn’t hurt them too much either. We’ve had over 8 dogs all of whom lived to be over 10, a few getting up to the 17-18 range.

Dogs need more than food, water, and a dog house. They need human interaction, attention, and love. The note was completely appropriate–had my neighbor left their dog in the backyard while they went away on vacation for a couple of days, they would have had a summons on their door when they returned.

Our neighbours dog barks a lot, our dog doesn’t. We spend time with our dog every morning and night and walk him as often as possible, they don’t. Pay attention to your dog and it won’t piss off your neighbours. Don’t piss off your neighbours you won’t get notes to your landlord – creepy or not.

Dogs are outside animals. Dogs bark. I am sure that dog was having the time of its life being free in a back yard to bark all day. Is that not the purpose of animal rights activists? To support an animal’s right to happiness and whatnot? I doubt greatly the woman’s intention being to starve and torture her animal—and she very likely gave it enough food and water. I am a cynic, but damn—negativity. I am team woman who knows what dogs really want.

I’m for the dog. How does this person know it barks ALL day and night? Don’t they have a life? Maybe they should get a dog so they have better things to do. Were they sitting at the window watching, absolutely certain the woman’s friend didn’t stop by to feed the dog?

Dogs barking are really annoying, but it sounds to me like the note writer deserved it.

Definately P-A to send it to the landlord. If they were really upset, they would have stapled it to the dog.

team note-leaver. nothing worse than incessant barking. i also hate people who think dogs barking is normal, healthy dog behavior because it’s not. it means the dog needs attention of some sort. it is disturbing the peace. not everyone works a day shift 9-5 job, ever hear of graveyard shift?

Who the hell leaves their dog outside while they are out of town for TWO DAYS!
The post is written like we are supposed to say “oh, yeah, such a creepy note…people should leave their dogs unattended more often”
I vote for calling the dog cops on people who don’t pay the effing money to kennel their animals. Even if the dog had food and water and shelter for two days, you never know what could happen. Is it that hard to get a dog sitter?

Good God, especially in Texas. It hits 100 degrees for weeks in the summer, and doesn’t dip below 80 on most of those nights. Let’s hope the owner didn’t leave the dog out in August. In Dallas, there is specific city code about how animal control must handle dog-catching differently in the summer due to the heat. Team Iowa.

I may be biased so don’t shoot!! LOL
When I was a teenager we had a very large back yard so my father built a dog pen 50ft by 10ft behind our garage. Inside were two dog houses and our two dogs. They were outdoor dogs and to the best of my recollection only cam indoors once in about seven years…the temperature dropped below five degrees F. They were happy and healthy, walked regularly by us and did not bark unless there was some threat to bark at.
The note writer is from out of state, it seems likely he or she is a relative of a neighbor who complained during a phone call about the dog’s barking and cannot possibly have personal knowledge of actual frequency of the noise.
My heart wants to believe that this animal was provided adequate food, shelter and security such that 48 hours should not be considered an excessively long period. We know not how much time the dog spends outdoors when the owner is home by the way.
If the conditions were inhumane the actual neighbor should most definitely have contacted the authorities. Apparently the dog remains alive and well…WTF?

Has anyone here ever watched “The Dog Whisperer”? Very interesting show on National Geographic Channel. Dog trainer Caesar often says that one of the best ways to keep your dog happy and content is to recognize its breed and allow it to do the job for which it was bred. Let a retriever play fetch often for example.
The note says that the dog barks at everything. It does not say the dog is barking at nothing. Could it be that this dog was happily guarding his master’s territory in his master’s absence and has never been happier? Hmmm.

I Like the “Tell her to shut that dog up” part best.
I see curlers, a house dress, hands on hips, a gal named Dorothy or Dolly or Edith –from Iowa– who is just FED UP!

I’m guessing the dog also barks when our good note sender is at work /away from home during the day. She doesn’t know Patches is barking because she isn’t there to be driven stark raving mad by it. Perhaps another dog to keep 1st dog company? A nice mellow non-yapping creature from the pound, one whom no one else will adopt ’cause he or she is too old? Everybody’s happy? er?

That’s what I mean Tweedle…that “ya yap yap” or constant whining is a sign of distress. But a good hearty bark is just dog talk, by that I mean not always a bad thing in terms of the dog’s well-being. How can the note sender know from Iowa the nature of the dog’s vocalizations?

No sympathy. She should have had worse than a note. I’ve seen dogs left by their owners even inside who freak out and can’t stop barking and bark until they are hoarse. They don’t do it in front of their owner, because when their owner is there they aren’t FREAKING OUT. Pay for a kennel or don’t have a dog. If you can’t be a responsible pet owner, you don’t deserve one.

Seriously, if the dog had enough food and water for christ’s sake, quit having your panties in a bunch. granted, she should’ve had someone check on the dog or something, but if you’re only leaving for two days and the dog will be well fed and hydrated with lots of shade, then two days is not that long at all. goodness. a dog is a dog. it can fend for itself especially if it’s got the resources.

the barking can be annoying though, I do agree with that. get the mutt a bark collar (hah, I kid. bark collars suck)

I agree for the most part… animals know how to fend for themselves, yes. But if it’s a house pet that has been cared for its whole life by a loving owner every single day, then maybe it doesn’t exactly know how to fend for itself. If she has never left it alone for that long before, then it’s very likely that the dog was panicked and had no idea where she was, what was going on, etc. If that is the case, then I really have to agree with most of the comments… Team note-leaver. Get a kennel.

Here’s to responsible pet owners–I’ll be staying the night at a girlfriend’s house for the next 2 nights to take care of her 2 dogs, 2 birds, and salt-water fish tank (which her boyfriend calls the tank of death) while they fly to Chicago.

This happened tome. Some dog across the courtyard barked all night every night from its balcony. I finally couldn’t take it so I struck an agreement with some guys I knew and we took that dog. Neuman, one of the guys, wanted to kill it but I couldn’t go through with it so we dumped that mutt out in the woods outside of town. The next night that damn dog was back on his balcony barking like a maniac.

Get a grip people, it’s a dog. They’re actually equipped top live outside.

I get so tired of the big deal we make about stupid animals. Women are killing their babies and getting off because of post partum depression but Michael Vick is going to prison for killing a handful of useless animals.
Then all of you animal lovers celebrate his demise over a juicy burger.

They eat dogs all around the world and some immigrants actually eat dogs and cats right here in the USA. Your golden retriever can feed a family of four for a month. Get a grip.

I know I’m two years late, but I can’t not reply to this kind of stupidity. Your argument is weak.

1. If you’re thinking of Andrea Yates, then you’re flat out wrong. That case got about ten million times more media coverage then Micheal Vick. Every fucking time I turned on the t.v. that entire year I saw pictures of her kids. I didn’t even know who Micheal Vick was until yesterday.

2. As far as the two sentences go, Andrea Yates has been put away for the rest of her life. Micheal Vick got, what, two years? AND he gets to go back and play on a pro team, so your argument fails there as well.

3. Yes it is alot different to harm someone/something because of a mental disorder(although no less tragic) than it is to purposefully, knowingly, and intentionally cause harm to someone/something.

I’ve got 20 bucks that says before the day is over the “anonymous” submitter enters a statement in her defense.

Hopefully she made better arrangements than food and water. I have two dogs and would never leave them unattended for more than an average workday. Until more facts are entered into evidence I have to say that the submitter is an irresponsible twit. She’s lucky the dog didn’t fall into harm’s way, whether self-inflicted or frustration-induced

I do think it’s funny that people offer submissions that make them look far worse than the person who authored the PAN.

Dear PAN, Look at the sign my boss posted in the kitchen after I made a grilled cheese sandwich:

“ATTENTION: After the fire damage in our office kitchen is repaired, stop putting cheese, meat and/or vegetables in the toaster!”

Team Doggie. I’d bark my head off, too, if my asshole human guardian left me alone outside for two fucking days. I’d want to be sure that everyone around me was miserable, too.

I cannot stand people who get animals and then treat them as if they had no needs of their own. Dogs are pack animals. Don’t leave them outside all the time! Whether you’re away or at home, they need contact.

Oh, and Sam? Caring about the welfare of the creatures who share this planet with us and caring about the plight of our fellow humans is not mutually exclusive. Some of us have the emotional capacity to do both.

Here’s an idea: The person that wrote the note may have already had a bad experience with the dog owner (who is an ass, as far as I’m concerned) over the barking dog, and not wanting another confrontation, went the super-duper-anonymous route.

And I have to say, at least here where I live, dog owners are a defensive bunch. The two times I asked two different owners of incessantly barking dogs to please do something about it, I was treated to endless harassment (including dog sh** left under my car tires).

The first couple of times I saw a comment like “That dog was delicious” I thought it mildly humorous. Its just not funny anymore. I’m team “Quit being a copycat and try to think of something original for once in your very stupid life.”

oh and sam, that old fake logic trick where you pick a horrible, unrelated practice and then compare it to the idea in question…..it doesn’t work. you can feel any way you want to about animals; you don’t have to own one. it’s irresponsible and illegal to leave an animal exposed to the weather (assuming she did). in my experience, the way someone treats an animal in their care says a lot about his character.

The fact that the letter was written to the landlord at a different address just goes to show that I have always been right about what IOWA stands for: Idiots Out Walking Around (hey Iowans, before you jump on me, I can say this, I am a direct decendant of a Iowan)

As for leaving your dog outside for 2 days, in my opinion: Not Cool. My doggie went everywhere with me, so why not bring Rover with you Anon??

maybe the dog barked because the note writer or someone kept hanging over the fence yelling shut up at it. i agree with claw about needing more information. i don’t leave my dog alone longer than a workday either. if i go somewhere for more than a day, i either board the dog at the vet’s or make arrangements for someone to come by and check on her. on the other hand, i live in a very rural area, and most of the people around here have no problem with animal noises. as a matter of fact, one of my neighbor’s german shepherds is barking her head off right now. unless i know the dog is being mistreated, i tend to leave the situation alone.

folks, i grew up in austin, and there are far too many people in that town (and that part of town) to intervene if the dog was being mistreated. i’m willing to bet a shitload of money i don’t have that she had someone checking on that dog.

frankly, the fact that the note came from IOWA and given the area of caswell (walking distance to UT) sounds like someone’s too much of a pussy to deal with this on their own and mommy wrote a note to get her out of gym.

team let us know you had people checking on the dog and neighbor, grow the fuck up.

Objection- The notion of the dog being left outside for a weekend is irrelevant!

Here’s why: the note was delivered three weeks after the weekend trip, and does not specifically mention the weekend in question. It simply spouts exaggeration (honestly, how can a dog bark at “everything“?) probably a result of ongoing daily barking.

The submitter was unwise to offer her weekend confessional- but it doesn’t hurt her case.

Haven’t you people ever heard of OUTSIDE DOGS? Do you all coddle your dogs and let them sit on your lap all day? Our dog is an outside dog 24 hours a day. He doesn’t even like being inside. Maybe a fucking neighbor was keeping an eye on the dog and making sure it wasn’t hurt and was feeding it twice a day or something. I’ve had dogs bark for an hour or two and I’ve said “Jesus, this dog has been barking all day.” Maybe the fucking note writer is EXAGGERATING. Someone said it was protecting the place, you bet your ass it was. The writer said it barks at everything, maybe the “everything” is passing people and he’s just annoyed with the dog reacting. You guys need to get a goddamn grip.

I hate barking dogs…and I have 3 of them! One is a 99-pound Basset Hound! In honor of our neighbors, we moved our dogs out of the $1400 kennel area we built when we bought the home. If you want to read more about our experience, go to: http://rantasaurus-rex.com/
It’s a great site…and I wrote about our neighbors and what asses they are.
However, I also respect humans, so, once we found out our dogs were barking while we were at work, we immediately moved them into our beautiful backyard, which meant the herb beds were destroyed, but the dogs were quiet.

If the dog was properly fed/sheltered, then being outside was no big deal. I’m also going to use the theory that the dog doesn’t usually bark a lot, and that the submitter isn’t just a jerk.

What makes this note SUPER passive-aggressive is that whomever sent it was so scared of being found out, that they had a friend from Iowa send it. That’s what’s crazy. I mean, you have to figure the note sender is a neighbor, because who else would be bothered if the dog barked. Yet the note comes postmarked Iowa, for an address in Texas?

There ARE dogs that will bark nonstop for hours because they’re alone. I live near some. And seriously, that noise can travel a long distance and still be too loud. I’m sure the dog is/was just fine, but have some compassion on the neighbors. A creepy note is nothing; submitter should be happy nobody threw a poisoned pound of hamburger over the fence.

lala: just because you like putting something out of context and making shit up to make yourself feel better doesnt mean anyone cares. now go eat a cow.

when my family goes out of town, they have this little doggie door that you instal as a panel into the sliding glass door thing, we have the gravity feeders, and we have the neighbors come over and play with her several times a day. i think she likes our vacations as much as we do. fortunately, she isnt the barking type.

because of the strange address, i wonder if some weird artsy kid (austin has TONS of them) was too terrified to speak up for themselves so had mommy write from some remote location so they couldnt be traced…hmm…

yeah, that was my guess above. caswell is right by campus. i’m thinking less artsy (they’re weird but not generally shy) and more little bitch from Iowa (that could be a male OR a female) who cries to mommy a little too much…

I’m on the fence with this one… I have two dogs- one barker (beagle) and one non-barker. The beagle will bark at anything (bugs, cat poop, plants) sometimes and it makes me nuts. I would never consider leaving her alone for a weekend- she gets boarded every time.

The Non-barker I would totally leave for a weekend. He loves to lay in the sun and watch the people walking by. Sometimes he barks- come on guys, it IS normal dog behavior- but nothing excessive. But the thing is, he is such an easy going dog I LOVE taking him with me.

Have we considered the possibility that this is the first time she left the dog for a weekend (I’m hoping with someone stopping by at least) and she didnt know what would happen?

Hey laura, so you approve of beating the shit out of dogs (or any other animal) too and sticking things up their ass too? As for eating a cow, i have no problem with that, i enjoy steak. And i guess your in a “team” for making yourself feel better and wanted. *jealous*

This is exactly how I expected this “debate” to go. There will never be peace between the three camps of: 1) responsible dog owners; 2) irresponsible dog (pet) owners; and 3) people who have had enough of putting up with other people’s irresponsibility as pet owners.

As for me, I am an animal lover but seriously, who gives a shit whether the dog was “having the time of its life being in a backyard to bark all day”? (#16) They live in the middle of a goddam CITY. If you want to have an outdoor-exclusive pet, then move to the COUNTRY. Leaving a dog to sit outside and bark all day long is no better than starting a chainsaw at 6 in the morning before you leave for work, or cranking “System of a Down” with all your windows open when you come home from your graveyard shift…and I’ll bet a letter complaining about THAT behaviour would be a lot better received than this one.

Bottom line: if you want to live among people then do your best to GET ALONG with those people. If you don’t, then move. Pretty simple, really. Lots of free space out there where your dog can roam free all day long. Find some and live there.

And “Blah was delicious”? Go eat a dick. Nothing about my life has been “very stupid”, you ignorant hayseed. Was this note “original” enough for you? Oh wait – I don’t care.

that part i disagreed with, but what i DID agree with was saying that we kill other humans and get away with it, while someone gets hell (and, rightfully so) for abusing animals. im not saying im ok with animal abuse, im just saying that sometimse we screw our priorities up.

i am an animal lover with SEVERAL animals, and i would never condone someone abusing one or killing it or the like. but i think we should be equally concerned for other human beings, but it seems like its easier to have sympathy for animals.

and lala, your still an idiot who needs a midol, regardless of your gender.

eh, yush i’d ahve called sspca. people who don’t care for their animals properly don’t deserve to have them.
as for the whole “what about people ?” argument. i am no sick of it. i am an animal rights activist. i also do work for amensty, oxfam & tutor young adults ( for free). you an care about both. doesn’t have to either or folks.

Also, to compare Michael Vick to a woman that killed her kid due to post partum depression and say we have screwed up priorities is a straw man. Michael Vick is famous and therefore being made an example. If a famous actress had killed her kid, you can bet that she would have gotten way more scrutiny than Michael Vick. Just because the dog fighting thing is getting a lot of press right now doesn’t mean that the courts give it a higher priority, it just means that this particular f-ed up crime is being highlighted at this particular moment.

perhaps the owner had a friend staying at her house while she was gone. a shitty friend who wasn’t there much…who the hell knows. bet it won’t happen again.

i for one believe it IS easier to have sympathy for animals (and children) as they are the rather innocent ones of the world. of course, i find it hard to have sympathy for THESE children (although i’m sure at least one of them has clearly been through some shit).

no need, lala, im not ignorant, i made VERY clear what parts of his statement that i DID agree with, so get that chip off your shoulder, its ugly.

and i agree with you ginger, you CAN care about both, im just saying i think that we are to be stewards of all on this earth, but im just saying that i think people are more important than animals. not that animals arent important, of course.

I’m willing to give the dog owner the benefit of the doubt and believe that she had someone come in periodically to dog-sit. If that is the case, then it is probably a lot less traumatic for the dog to sleep outside for one night in a doghouse he is familiar with than to be taken to a kennel. There are a lot of great kennels out there and if a dog goes there often, it can be like a home away from home. But the person had lived there two months and might not have found a place that the doggie would feel secure in.

i want to clarify that i don’t think one’s more important than the other per se, although i would probably save a human before, say, a rat. but the fact is that most people are assholes and have the capacity to prevent 99% of the shit that befalls them. animals are not often accorded that opportunity. and they are cuter. unless you count webster (emmanuel lewis).

#77, yeah, i agree with that as well. animals dont tend to screw people over like adult human beings, nor dot hey say the ugly things that humans do to each other, or hide behind computers making statements they wouldnt dare to do in real life.

its so much easier to like animals. at least they are consistant. i dont know about children sometimes because the kids of today tend to be brats because of how PC we’ve become and its practically illegal to discipline your kids.

i hear ya on the kid thing. i used to get my ass spanked in a bad way in public (in the 70′s) – and that was good and normal and all was right in the world. you can’t even do that these days without drawing some looks. no wonder kids act like they do. in my day there was one major factor that kept me out of trouble (or at least getting caught) and that was the beating that i knew would come with it. fear of ass pain and embarrassment does wonders…

same here, i always got that for when i got in trouble, and i turned out fairly normal kids get away with everything, and its frightening to think these are the people that will be running the world. they are selfish and think they can have everything without working for it.

anyway, im making my self sound older than i am. most people my age lack manners or any respect for human life in general. its sad when you get picked on for being polite.

Ok, to get off the post and onto kids… Yesterday my 3 yo daughter was in the grocery cart behaving herself but singing “I’m a little teapot” (or something equally annoying) at the TOP of her lungs– and that girl has lungs.
I was amazed at the number of people going by muttering “shut her up”. Would they rather have had her throwing a screaming fit? Screw em~ I started singing with her. Some people you cant make happy-

i’d much rather hear i’m a little teapot than some kid screaming at the top of his lungs that he wants the new star wars lego action set NOWWWWW! kids are kids. i can deal with that. parents are parents – some need help dealing with that. good for you for singing!

Oh my god! I have never seen people act so retarded over something as silly as this!
We have no information saying that the dog is being abused or that it wasn’t being fed or watered. For all we know the owner could have had a sitter come over to check on the dog and play with it. And how do we know that the neighbor wasn’t just exagerating and the dog wasn’t just barking at squirrels for an hour or two?
I have two cockerspaniels who were absolutely miserable when we kept them inside. They’d whine and scratch at the door all day, even though they were getting plenty of attention and exercize (walks). My dogs are so much happier now that we let them stay outside during the day. Anyways, my point is that every dog is different, some dogs need to be inside all the time while some prefer to be outside. And as long as the dog is happy and cared for it’s not abuse.

Our dog barks at anything (other dogs, noises, the TV) when we’re home. I tell her to stop, pin her down, whatever, but the second I turn my back, she’s back to it. I can only assume she barks all day while we’re at work, too. She’s an indoor dog that only goes outside for walks and playtime.

Fortunately, we’re covered by the neighbors. They put their little dog outside for hours at a time, and she just sits there and barks and yaps and barks. Then another neighbor’s 10-year-old girl comes out and talks to the dog in this high-pitched squealy voice.

You complete spanner! I’m with
boggywoggy in that you are lucky it wasn’t stolen or shot.

If I’d lived next door to you I wouldn’t have sent a polite note, I’d have simply taken the dog to the nearest RSPCA or whatever you have in the States and told them it needed to be homed with a new owner who was prepared to look after it properly.

I’m not keen on dogs, in fact they completely freak me out – any creature whose raison d’etre is to engulf me in a caccoon of it’s on saliva is going to be low on my list of favourites. Even so, I wouldn’t wish that kind of treatment on one.

Incidentally, if I was going to send some kind of passive aggressive note about my neighbour’s dog I might get a friend from out of town to send it if I didn’t know the neighbour, you never know they could have feared you were a psycho. I suspect that would explain the Cedar Rapids post mark.

No, they’re not. They’re domesticated animals. Like cats, they’re not “meant” to live outside; they’re meant to have humans supervise them. That’s how domesticated dogs have been bred. Sure, some go feral, but they don’t live for very long.

I too am on Team Dog, meaning I’d bark like crazy if I were left alone for two days. If you can’t be bothered to take your dog somewhere where he can be watched over, don’t freaking get a dog.

goldie, no in texas (and most states) there has to be obvious neglect and distress to the animal for it to be taken, i.e. no food or water, starvation, infestation, etc.

now, an unattended “nuisance” animal is another story. weird, though, that whoever’s mother wrote this note didn’t take it upon themselves to just call the cops and complain, eh? or even just mail the note directly to the dog’s owner (they clearly knew the address).

my 14 year old lab was tied to a tree for the first 2.5 months of her life. i called animal control repeatedly and they did nothing b/c there were water and food bowls out (that she constantly spilled with the rope). so yeah, she “chewed” through the rope one day and has enjoyed a life of indoor luxury ever since. and she has NEVER been chained a day since i brought her home.

i have a small dog that barks at EVERYTHING, shadows on the wall, grasshoppers, people walking. My large boxer doesnt bark at anything. I keep them both inside at night, but only if they act like they want to come in.

i love kiddos too, and as much as singing is much better than pitching a fit, its still noise, and no one wants to go to the grocery store to be serenaded by a too loud child indoor voices are so much cuter. im sure shes adorable though.

yes, what if the animal had escaped?
but i also want more details. but as always, its so much fun to make assumptions!

I don’t condone leaving a dog unattended for two days. Dogs just aren’t socially equipped for that but more importantly is the fact that dogs are clever. They slip out of leashes, crawl under fences and even open gates. Then you have a dog on the loose which opens the door to all kinds of possibilities. Even if the dog doesn’t get loose water bowls can be flipped, food can be stolen by wayward raccoons and mean kids can do unspeakable things.

If you’re going to leave town and you’re too cheap to spring for a kennel, slip a neighbor 20 bucks to keep an eye on fido.

Sorry, but the submitter is an idiot(I believe she responded). I’ve heard of outside dogs, AKA neglected animals, but seasoned outside dogs don’t get worked up and bark for hours on end.

I’ve got two dogs. They are far from being coddled lap dogs but I couldn’t imagine the ruckus they would raise if I left them outside over night, let alone a whole weekend.

Lauralai, your naivety is showing. People get worked up about animal abuse because it’s usually pretty horrific and the penalties are laughable. The penalties for doing harm to a person are adequate.

There was a beagle who was rescued from New Orleans after Katrina and a Central Ohio family adopted him. One day the pooch was wandering in that family’s field when a neighbor took it upon himself to shoot the dog.

The dog was not on the neighbor’s property, nor had he been. The neighbor claimed the dog growled at him so he killed it. In spite of trespassing and killing somebody else’s pet he got hit with a $200 fine and three months probation. People were pissed.

People were even more pissed when this jerk shot somebody at a party a few months later. Instead of recognizing the act of killing a dog as violent behavior they passed it off as an act of vandalism. Had the law been a little more severe chuckles might not have put a bullet in a person.

Just because your dog doesn’t bark when you are home, doesn’t mean that the same is true when you are gone. Many dogs bark because they are bored or lonely, and never bark for other reasons (like seeing shadows or animals or whatever).

As for not caring about a neglected dog just because there are people that are worse off than dogs…..SO FUCKING WHAT? That is the DUMBEST argument I have ever heard! That’s like saying “it’s okay to drive spikes into puppies eyeballs, because I read about a woman being shot the other day.” Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Comment is win. My dogs normally have someone home with them; at most, they’re inside for 3 hours. The puppy is excersized and watered before being kenneled, and the dog sleeps most of the time during the summer anyways (he’s a black husky mutt in the southern heat). If it’s anything more than three hours, our neighbor comes over to make sure they’re still happy. Leaving a dog outside, alone, is despicable in most settings.

DUH, I totally agree with you about not caring because people are worse off – at least people can try to get themselve out of whatever situation they are in, animals don’t have that luxury and therefore it’s a Moral Responsibility of all humans to look out for the animals…

claw – some “seasoned outdoor dogs” do bark for hours on end. i worked for a vet who handled a lot of the animals rescued after Katrina. we had a little mixed breed who was an outdoor dog according to the owners, and he barked constantly. he was just a neurotic little guy. my neighbors’ dogs all live outdoors. the female german shepherd barks at leaves falling. i just ignore it, especially since the neighbors were nice enough to ignore the noise my 15 ringneck parakeets made.

I don’t approve of animal neglect, but sometimes there’s not much anyone can do. The meth monkey down the road from me leaves her three dogs tied out while she’s gone for days. unfortunately, the dogs are so damn vicious we can’t do anything for them. i am not gonna get bitten to give them some water. the only thing i can do is call the cops, we don’t have animal control out here.

T-Bone (#48) He calls it the tank of death because every now and then something gets out of balance in this 70 gal. salt water aquarium and all the (expensive) fish start dropping like flies. Or the eel will eat one of the other fish. It seems like a money pit at times.

I am Team Sam too. People are a bunch of hypocrites. I love my cat more than anything in the world and thusly generally love other animals unless they are annoying. But I also love to eat chicken, beef, and other lovely farm animals. For one, it is healthy human nature to eat meat. For two, it is healthy dog behavior to just bark whenever the hell they want to unless some human (who wants their own way) trains that joy out of them. Yes, a dog barking incessently is annoying—but why the hell should anyone barge in unless the dog in hanging from a tree or foaming at the mouth? Maybe it likes to bark at every speck of life. Let it. If you claim to be an animal lover or advocate, learn how to shut off your needs and tune into the animals. Cows are too stupid to know the difference between grazing to die old or grazing to die in a meat plant. They have feelings—as in nerves— yes, but they are not emotions. You just want them to have emotions. Regardless, animals are better than humans because they know what they want and the order of the world. Dogs are outside animals. Period. Sure a tiny chihuahua might not survive below zero temperatures, but if needs are met when owning an animal, no worries. There are those who care nothing for animals such as this Vick character, but jesus. Stop those guys, and stop fretting over whether or not a dog has enough toys by your standards. Maybe the dog does not like toys.

About a month ago, a neighbor left his/her dog on the balcony. The dog barked incessantly and ruined an otherwise peaceful and beautiful Sunday morning/afternoon/evening. Not being passive aggressive, I left a complaint on the building manager’s voicemail.

The passive aggressive note from someone out of state (?) aside, it’s unacceptable for people to let their dogs disrupt the neighborhood and disturb their neighbors.

Zsa #85..OMG! No no one would rather your child throw a fit, we would rather you teach her that thre is a time and place for everything and the grocery store is not the place to sing at the top of one’s lungs. You taught her the opposite lesson by joining her, not good dear.

So, so glad mine are adults. When they acted out in public (a rarity), they got a crack in the head!

Money issues are also a factor here people. Kennel – costs money; living in the country – costs a SHITLOAD of money; owning a dog – not very much money at all, and you get companionship to boot. Oh, and I think I want lauralaiwc as a best friend. Team get a cat, spank your damn child, and let dogs be dogs.

#99 Jazz, A sad tale indeed. It is incumbent upon the pet owner to provide a SECURE space if leaving a pet in a yard unattended. Fenced in is NOT necessarily SECURE.
The fact that the dog you reference was injured is due to a non-secure space not because it was outdoors alone. A pet owner can be gardening just feet away if there is a hole in the fence doggie may sprint for it.
Unattended does not equal unsafe, bad security does.

My dog sleeps on the balcony (3rd floor) and is totally secure. the railings are high enough and vertical rails closley spaced enough that the only place he can go is back indoors.
If and when Rocky barks I get up to see what he’s barking at because he does not bark for no reason. He is doing his job, guarding his pack’s territory. He is rewarded with dog biscuits for a “Good Guard”.

Which brings is back to the note. What breed was this dog? Was it a toy poodle or other toy bred to be a lap dog or was it a large working dog bred to be territorial in nature?
Personally, my reponse to the letter would depend greatly upon this type of factor.
If in your mind when you think dog you think lap dog, you are probably outraged. If, on the other hand you tend to think Rin-Tin-Tin when you think dog, you are probably saying to yourself “What’s the big deal?”
You will note that the letter makes no mention of the conditions in which the dog was kept. This makes it all the more likely that the conditions were fine, just that the barking was annoying. If the conditions were indeed poor then I loss sympathy for the writer because she/he cared nothing for the animal, just about the noise.

Alright…let us be logical folks. The note is an exageration…wrap your mind around that before continuing to decry dogs barking all day long for two straight days. Before the end of day one said dog would be hoarse. Day two would be relatively peaceful. Can we think with our minds and not our bleeding hearts?

I was wondering how long it would take somebody to insinuate that animals don’t have feelings. Oh yes they do, Jackie, even cows. They have feelings and emotions. They might not ponder the existential questions of the universe and they don’t tend to indulge in self pity but they do have emotional highs and lows. I don’t need to convince myself otherwise when I take a bite out of Elsie. Sorry that you do.

Of all the animals to abandon or mistreat the dog is the one that will suffer the most. Dogs depend on a social order with specific routines. If you just take off and leave one penned outside for two or three days it will go nuts. Mine get frustrated if I’m more than an hour late getting home. I have until 6:30, then they’ll shred a pair of socks. Each hour after that the destruction escalates. It’s not because they’re bad dogs… they’re remarkably obedient… but they are also huskies and prone to acts of rebellion when I violate the rules. It’s actually funny.

Incessant barking isn’t something to tune out. People who choose to have pets must accept the enormous responsibility of caring for that pet. That means taking the pet with you or paying for a kennel when you take extended trips. I can tune out the occasion woof but if a dog is yapping because his irresponsible twit of an owner decided to take off for a weekend fuck fest with her boss at the sales convention in Denver I can’t abide.

Furthermore, dogs are not necessarily outside animals. Thanks to centuries of selective breeding most breeds need to live inside and because we have perverted the pack instinct to ease domestication dogs demand much more attention than any other animal. Dogs need to interact with their people. Some breeds are no longer capable of living outside. Most of the toy breeds like the chihuahua absolutely will not survive in the cold. In fact, a brisk 40 degree night can do one in rather effectively. My huskies could survive -40 with ease but they are one of the few breeds equipped consistent outdoor living.

You’d be stunned. True, that dog didn’t bark for 48 straight hours but it probably did it often enough over that period to make its presence known. Especially at night. I was camping in a state forest and listened to a dog bark non-stop all night long from about a half mile away. He was still at it when I woke up, feeling very grouchy, the next morning. My dogs even seemed perturbed. They don’t bark a whole lot.

claw, I agree that we humans have so substantially affected the “natural” behaviour of dogs that they all require some degree of human interaction to thrive. Some breeds more than others. Dogs are very in tuned to their life schedules because to live as a social animal it is important that specific things happen at specific times. Rocky goes out onto our balcony each night just about 15 min. before my son is due home from work. It he is an hour late, Rocky paces the floor until I tell him to calm down. Interestingly, he also will not eat unless my son and I are both at home. “Pack whole…Rock eat” you can almost hear him say!
As far as kennels, I don’t trust them any more than I would an unregulated insane assylum.
I’d try to find someone who could stop by twice a day to walk, feed and water my pet or someone who could take him for a short time.

Yeah claw, I’m sure he made that night holy hell but could not possibly sustain for 48 hours. Odds are if you were out camping, a half mile away some putz left their dog at a campsite in an unfamiliar environment. Scared as hell, I can understand the barking! Those are the kind of owners we chain to trees with a food and water bown combo just out of reach!

What happens when the dog bites someone (regardless of reason) and the fine is a $200 that would probably cover a kennel fee? What happens when the dog breaks a leg, or gets sick and needs medicine? If you have a dog, it will more-than-likely get hurt sometime. Vet bills aren’t cheap. :/

#126 GVI:The kennel my dad built had six foot high hurricane fencing secured by concrete at the base. The entire enclosure had a concrete floor. There was no digging under or climbing over…we did have to make sure the dog houses were not too close to the fence otherwise they would jump onto the roof and from there over the fence. We had a German Shepherd-Doberman and a German Shepherd-Collie back then. Trust me when I say that we were never concerned with animal theft!

the bark heard â€™cross the country
September 17th, 2007 Â· 152 comments
so, our anonymous submitter had lived at her house in austin, texas for about two months when she went out of town for the weekend. for the two days while she was gone, she left her dog outside in the yard. three weeks later, her landlord â€“ who lives at a completely different address â€” received this note via u.s. mailâ€¦postmarked cedar rapids, iowa.

I awoke a moment ago with a start! Then it hit me…WHERE DOES THIS SAY ANYWHERE THAT THE DOG WAS UNATTENDED FOR TWO DAYS AS ALL TOO MANY POSTS ASSUME OR SUGGEST?

Wild dogs aren’t ‘kept’, period. Generally, larger dogs are the ones who are kept outside, not Fifi the prissy pomeranian. There’s nothing wrong with keeping a dog outside. It gives them alot more exercise than that half mile walk they might get once a day if they’re lucky. Sure there are twits out there who don’t take care of their dogs, but being ‘outside’ isn’t neglect. Keeping them outside with no food, no shelter, no water, and on a chain is neglect.

Thanks Lauren, but I like my dog to bark when a stranger is near my door. That’s what guard dogs are supposed to do, guard the pack’s territory.
A few months ago several apartments in my complex were burgularized on a single day.
I learned later that the perps walked the halls knocking on doors. If there was an answer they said sorry wrong apartment and moved on, if no answer they broke in. Rocky surely acted as a deterrent that day. He could not havev done so by being quiet.
My door now sports a sign with a growling dog that says “On Duty”!

My family had two dogs in the suburbs. We’d go on vacation for a week (that’s 7 days, kiddos), leave the dogs on their leash runs with a large container of food, two dog houses, sunshine and shade, and plenty of water. My uncle would stop by every two days to make sure the food and water were topped up.

The dogs were fine.

People. They’re animals. You may not be able to handle Mother Nature for two whole days, but trust me, the doggies can.

Nostalgia! I haven’t been colord since I was a child, but we had fun in the back, you young-uns missed it all.
Sure we take jobs! We take anything that ain’t nailed down, haven’t you heard?
We steal 15% of jobs as minority set asides…don’t tell the rest of the world that that translates into an 85% majority set aside.

i’m with the landlord. if you want to have dogs in the city, then keep them in your damn apartment/house. if you don’t want to do that, then don’t get the dog, it’s simple. it’s not the dog’s fault, it’s the owner’s.

Monica. They’re animals. We are people (as you pointed out). We pay the mortgages/rents/taxes in the “suburbs”. We still need to come first. If your dogs were “fine” that’s wonderful. Were the neighbours “fine”? Did you ask them? See, that’s the number 1 concern and it was the main problem addressed by the note which started this whole thread.

claw is still 100% right. Love your dogs but respect your neighbours. One would think it’s a pretty simple idea, but it astounds me (daily) how many people can’t multitask like that.

My neighbor used to leave 2 dogs outside to bark constantly. She said they were her children and you wouldn’t lock a child in the house if it yelled in the yard. I think she might have gotten the message when I mentioned that she would go to jail if she left a child unattended in the yard all day and all night.

People with dogs should NEVER let them bark unless they are being robbed. People who let dogs bark should be put in prison.

That’s a little ridiculous. Dogs bark for various reasons and should be permitted to do so provided it is not incessant. If you have a problem with the occasional “woof” you need to see a doctor and get that stick removed from your ass.

I’ve never discouraged barking. When my dogs bark I get off my butt and see what they’re barking at then I calmly tell them it’s OK and pet them for vocalizing their concern. Then they’re happy and quiet. Mission accomplished.

Dogs are pack animals and believe that their people are the pack leaders. When they bark they want their leader to investigate and if the leader is a fat, white trash hick too lazy to put down the Miller Lite for a second to see what the fuss is about they will keep barking.

Why do you think people with unruly dogs also have unruly kids? They’re irresponsible in all walks of life.

I have never had a problem with barking dogs for as long as I have lived…well – up until I moved out on my own.

My neighbors who live directly behind me have two small dogs. They will let their dogs out some time in the afternoon and leave them out for a good portion of the day and night.

Whenever I walk out of my house for any reason, they run up to the fence and start barking at me – and continue until I leave. This makes having company for an outdoor BBQ somewhat annoying.

But it’s not the dogs that bother me so much, it’s more the owners. The Teenage boy who lives there simply yells out his window at them to shut up (usually swearing in the process) and then bangs on his window a few times.

The rest of the family simply shut windows and/or their screen door and then turn up their TV louder so they can’t hear the dogs.

This has been going on for 5 years now – and unfortuantely there is no Nuisance Law in the area I live in – and since they do bring them it at night (usually at 10:00 p.m.) there isn’t much I can do about it.

A girl in Austin was recently emailing everyone because her dog disappeared out of her yard. No doubt it was probably barking and someone took it. So a questionably creepy note and no harm to the dog is a good thing.
Plus, it’s 108-freaking-degrees in the summer in Austin, so leaving your dog outside is totally uncool. Ask a friend or hire a doggie day care, sheesh.

She was probably not gone for literally two days. She left noon-ish on Saturday, came back 8-ish on Sunday. Normal weekend trip. Also, perhaps she left the dog outside with the door open, so he would have access to the inside, and the door either closed or the dog just likes the outdoors. And perhaps she left the radio on and had a neighbor visit once a day. It’s not that big a deal. Team Creepy Psychic.

It won’t end welfare, but I’m all for a parenthood license.
Any fool can operate a car but they make you take a test to do it legally.
Any fool can have children, no knowledge required.
That’s why a baby died here in my building this week but the grieving parents still drive.
How much do you want to bet that if a dead baby meant a driver’s license suspension of five years babies would get better care?

Our two dogs absolutely adore being outside . . . and furniture. They are dog-door dogs. We have left them home overnight before, with plenty of food, water, A/C, and upholstery in the house, and a friend checking on them twice. They spend the majority of the time outside (per our neighbor’s report). The rest of the time, I am quite sure, they spend on the couch or on our bed. I know this because this is exactly what they do when we are home.

If we leave for more than 48 hours, the dogs go to my parents, who also have a dog door, and they do their thing there.

We have no routine, and our dogs don’t seem bothered by that.

Our dogs do bark, but never out of anxiety. They bark when the garbage truck loudly barrels down the block, when the dog next door goes out into her yard, when the birds fly low, when we get home, etc. There is nothing worrying about this behavior. This is what they are most happy doing, and it is natural.

When they start barking in the middle of the night, however, we drag ourselves out of bed, get them in the house, and lock the dog door.

Anyone that could ever consider poisoning or otherwise harming an animal that did not pose an immediate physical threat to them, has some SERIOUS issues. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s an early indicator of sociopathy.

Before you call me a hypocrite for saying this and presumably eating animals, know that I, in fact, do not eat animals of any kind.

We live in Houston, and it gets as hot here as it does in Austin, I promise. That doesn’t keep our dogs from running around outside as they see fit. They may come in more often when it’s hot, but they still love to be outside.

Our dogs are not interested in breaking out of our yard, although I have had dogs in the past that were, and that was a different situation. We also put a padlock on the gates, just in case.

Perhaps the dog had a dog door, and, like our dogs, simply preferred to be outside most of the time. I could see how someone might think that our dogs are left outside, when it’s actually their choice to be there.

We find this arrangement to be much better for the dogs than kenneling them, which always leaves them a little “screwed up” for a couple of weeks. Kennels are often dirty. The dogs are confined and out of their element. There is almost always at least one dog there that does have separation anxiety and barks incessantly, causing many other dogs to bark. The dogs get little, if any, attention, and some kennel-workers get frustrated and yell at the dogs.

For some dogs (those with separation anxiety, the “Houdinis” that break out, those that simply don’t enjoy being outside, or those without dog doors) kennels may be the lesser of two evils. However, it is presumptuous to assume this is always the truth.

Our dogs prefer it when we are around, most definitely. They greet us the same whether we’ve been gone three hours or three days. (They’re only slightly less exuberant when we return from getting the mail at the end of the driveway.) However, they are as happy as possible with their dog door, the run of the house, mounds of food and water, and some territory to watch over while we’re away.

Just for the record, we also have a cat, and she loves the dog door and patrolling the backyard, too.